Parish helping citizens prepare for hurricanes

By Renee Allemand
Believe it or not, we're already five days in to Hurricane Season 2008.

There’s been a lot said and written about how you should prepare for a storm threat. But up until now there's never been a hurricane preparedness brochure specifically for St. Charles Parish residents.

That will change late next week when the parish publishes its own brochure.

Usually the parish gets more comprehensive booklets through storm preparedness organization TRAC. We found out last week those booklets will not be printed due to a lack of grant funding.

The new brochure will feature the usual lists of preparedness items and tips on how to stay safe before, during and after a storm. But it will also have local and statewide evacuation maps, as well as step-by-step information for those signed up for the parish's assisted evacuation plan, all in a short, easy-to-use format.
A wealth of information can be found at the parish's hurricane Web page at www.stcharlesgov.net/hurricane.
The brochure will be available at all government offices,parish libraries and by request. It will also be available for downloaded at the above Web address.
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Infrastructure Update

St. Charles Parish Public Works employees last Wednesday replaced a collapsed culvert at Maryland Drive in Mimosa, Assistant Director Bob Dublan said.

The work will ease drainage along the Primrose Canal. The new culvert is a temporary fix at the location, he said.
Public Works planned the project the week of May 19. The permanent replacement of the crossing, of which engineering is almost complete, will be accomplished by use of a "con-span" bridge.

Channel 6 programming has made its way to the leading streaming video site on the Internet. All the local segments produced for the channel are now available at www.youtube.com/stcharlesgov. Check out our weekly calendars, 'Around the Parish' segments and biweekly Parish President's reports.

YouTube is a free service, so there are limitations on what the parish can display. All videos must be under 10 minutes, so unfortunately we are not able to stream entire council meetings.

The Web site is now also featuring photo galleries of events happening around the parish. Many times I play photographer for parish events, and other times I am e-mailed pictures from parish employees or members of the public.

Featured now are pictures from recent Challenger Baseball games, the Memorial Day ceremony and Police Memorial center held recently at the courthouse.

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Summer Food Service begins

Students ages 18 and under are invited to participate in the19th annual Summer Food Service Program sponsored by St. Charles Parish and the Department of Education.

Lunches will be distributed at St. Rose Elementary School in St. Rose, Eual J. Landry Alternative Center in Hahnville and Luling Elementary School in Luling. The services are from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and run from June 9 through July 17, excluding the week of July 4, from Monday through Thursday.
Children may be dropped off at any of the sites or picked up at bus stops in Des Allemands, Paradis, Hwy. 90, Ama, Luling, Hwy.18, Hahnville and Killona.

The program is more than just lunch, according to St. Charles Parish Community Services Director MauryaGlaude. There will be fun activities for the children along with motivational and educational speakers, including volunteers from the Retired Senior Volunteer Program and St. Charles Parish police officers.

Summer Camps sponsored by the St. Charles Parish Department of Parks and Recreation will be ongoing from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each weekday at all locations except Landry Alternative Center.

The Summer Food Service Program was created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help low-income children receive nutritious meals during the summer.

For more information, contact the Department of Community Services (985) 764-7994.
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